Supplier of the Month

I recently discovered Shiana - this is a suplier of mainly Hill Tribe silver and has some more unusual items that I haven't seen before. They are also an ethical fair trade company who support the people who painstakingly create beautiful designs using basic equipment. An interesting section is their black silver range - some of these would look lovely mixed with the usual silver. Prices seem good and shipping costs fair. Go to: http://www.shiana.com and see what you think!

Book Review

I've just treated myself to Liz Jones' book 'Silver Wire Fusing'. The techniques in this book are centred upon solderless joins achieved by using pure silver wire rather than Sterling silver. Pure silver melts at a lower temperature and doesn't attract firestain in the way Sterling does. The book's written in a chatty style and the photos are excellent. The only supplier of pure silver wire I can find is Wires.co.uk who sell various gauges either by the reel or in 1 metre lengths. The only thing that the book misses is putting the equivalent millimetre width of wire. Best place to buy this book is on Amazon - lots of sellers and I bought it new for less than £9 sterling.